Collateral damage is the name of the game. Cole had the vision to see ainโt shit good gunna come from talking about people family. It just widens the vortex even more.
Rap battles, like shit talking in basketball, are interwoven into the fabric of our culture. Unfortunately, what could be fun and competitive quickly turns toxic. Great piece bro โ๐ฝ
I like to use the adjective PYRRHIC: (a pyrrhic victory) won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor
great breakdown, I enjoyed reading your perspective on the clash of titans
As for your question about rules, I would start with format. Where are we at now with Kung Fu Kenny vs Do Right And Kill Everything, round 3.5? Historically, one to two rounds and done is ideal. MC Shan had The Bridge and Kill That Noise, KRS-One had South Bronx and The Bridge Is Over. Jay Z had Takeover and Nas had Ether. Pac had Hit Em Up. Cube had No Vaseline. Common had I See the B in You. If it's a top tier & proper diss song, other than maybe one final rebuttal, there's really no need to keep going. When you keep going, you go deeper into the cesspool of toxicity as your timeline recap illustrates.
There are no rules to a rap battle. Sadly when two parties genuinely donโt respect each other theyโre both willing to go to the gutter to get info that disparages one another. Iโm glad I was here for this historic rap battle. The strategy used by both will be discussed for decades to come.
I think the tension pre-existed this battle. Weโre seeing a blow over of that tension in real time. Based on how these two move, I donโt think weโve seen the end of this battle.
I enjoyed the rap battle. Kendrick and Drake definitely crossed boundaries. What many of us thought what would've been a few jabs here and there turned sideways and kind of sinister. But perhaps we were curious to see how far this could go because it got personal. J. Cole knew what was up. Should there be rules in rap beefs + battles? I don't know. I think that because there aren't any rules makes this exciting to tune in to.
Great piece and perspective (as is often the case when you write anything hip-hop). I'm torn on this because there's an idealistic side and a cynical side. Ideally, there should be rules to beef / rap battles that can operate in the same way as friendly competition in sports. Cynically, the best beefs tend to be the ones where both parties genuinely dislike each other (at least at that point in time) which means all bets are off. Therefore, it might be a tall ask to want a genre that, arguably, thrives off youth and immaturity to be better than what it is (which is an admirable request but possibly / unfortunately unrealistic).
One thing I wished was this. The fans should have kept their commentary like you did. There is too much justification going on, too many unwanted breakdowns. When we know, they both are wrong in this beef.
As a person who knows very little about rap and hip-hop, I was looking for an explanation about the Kendrick-Drake fight. This did a good job explaining that. My question is, where does Metro (BBL Drizzy) come in?
J.Cole was absolutely right!
Collateral damage is the name of the game. Cole had the vision to see ainโt shit good gunna come from talking about people family. It just widens the vortex even more.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for reading, and itโs kind of amazing that the man we all laughed at ended up being he winner ๐๐
I respect him the most because dude lives by his values. He wants peace and created it for himself ๐คท๐พโโ๏ธ I love a man of his word ๐
Rap battles, like shit talking in basketball, are interwoven into the fabric of our culture. Unfortunately, what could be fun and competitive quickly turns toxic. Great piece bro โ๐ฝ
Thanks for reading fam, and I feel like we can and should do better. I have so much more appreciation for Cole after this
Amen!
Great write up bro. Whatโs your thoughts on Vince Staples comment on the beef between the two?
I like to use the adjective PYRRHIC: (a pyrrhic victory) won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor
great breakdown, I enjoyed reading your perspective on the clash of titans
As for your question about rules, I would start with format. Where are we at now with Kung Fu Kenny vs Do Right And Kill Everything, round 3.5? Historically, one to two rounds and done is ideal. MC Shan had The Bridge and Kill That Noise, KRS-One had South Bronx and The Bridge Is Over. Jay Z had Takeover and Nas had Ether. Pac had Hit Em Up. Cube had No Vaseline. Common had I See the B in You. If it's a top tier & proper diss song, other than maybe one final rebuttal, there's really no need to keep going. When you keep going, you go deeper into the cesspool of toxicity as your timeline recap illustrates.
There are no rules to a rap battle. Sadly when two parties genuinely donโt respect each other theyโre both willing to go to the gutter to get info that disparages one another. Iโm glad I was here for this historic rap battle. The strategy used by both will be discussed for decades to come.
The lengths they went at each other set a bad precedent, and creates unnecessary tension. I hope it doesnโt go further than rap
I think the tension pre-existed this battle. Weโre seeing a blow over of that tension in real time. Based on how these two move, I donโt think weโve seen the end of this battle.
I enjoyed the rap battle. Kendrick and Drake definitely crossed boundaries. What many of us thought what would've been a few jabs here and there turned sideways and kind of sinister. But perhaps we were curious to see how far this could go because it got personal. J. Cole knew what was up. Should there be rules in rap beefs + battles? I don't know. I think that because there aren't any rules makes this exciting to tune in to.
Great piece and perspective (as is often the case when you write anything hip-hop). I'm torn on this because there's an idealistic side and a cynical side. Ideally, there should be rules to beef / rap battles that can operate in the same way as friendly competition in sports. Cynically, the best beefs tend to be the ones where both parties genuinely dislike each other (at least at that point in time) which means all bets are off. Therefore, it might be a tall ask to want a genre that, arguably, thrives off youth and immaturity to be better than what it is (which is an admirable request but possibly / unfortunately unrealistic).
One thing I wished was this. The fans should have kept their commentary like you did. There is too much justification going on, too many unwanted breakdowns. When we know, they both are wrong in this beef.
They really are, and itโs a shame because I think Kendrick was winning and could have won without the gossip
I believe when 6:16 dropped, kendrick was laughing at the deep connections being made.
I thought Metro won with #BBLDrizzy challenge. It was funny, but now people are digging his tweets and they arenโt nice.
As a person who knows very little about rap and hip-hop, I was looking for an explanation about the Kendrick-Drake fight. This did a good job explaining that. My question is, where does Metro (BBL Drizzy) come in?